Over the last five years, weather-related deaths are down 22% from 2013, while both the number of weather events and injuries have increased. In 2017, 59,985 weather events resulted in 592 deaths and 4,270 injuries. Flash floods, tropical storms, and heat waves were responsible for the most deaths during 2017. The largest number of reported injuries resulted from tornadoes, ice storms, and thunderstorms and wind. The most deadly weather events over the past five years include a debris flow in Washington state, a flash flood in Texas resulting from tropical storm Harvey, and excessive heat in the desert southwest.
See the infographic for more details and explore the data details tab for information on weather-related injuries and deaths by state and time of year.
Data on weather-related deaths were compiled by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NCDC data may differ from data based on death certificates that appear elsewhere in Injury Facts.